refreshing thoughts on living, learning, and loving… even when things get sandy

The game of the month in our house right now is “hide and go seek” with clothespins. Beach Girl invented this game herself and we’ve played it nearly every day the past few weeks. I love seeing what “games” she invents and watching her delight in them over and over again.

We simply take turns covering our eyes while the other hides clothespins around the room, sort of like an Easter egg hunt. But clothespins are extra fun because you can clip them onto all sorts of fun places and since they’re a neutral color (and our living room is inevitably covered in toys!), it’s pretty challenging to find them.

Not only is this game fun, creative, and good practice at hiding/seeking things, but it also lets kids practice their verbal skills (giving hints of where to look) and their pincer grip – that all important skill of pinching the thumb and pointer finger together that will later enable them to hold a pencil and write.

Beach Baby is still figuring out how to work the clothespins well enough to attach them, but she’s starting to be able to detach them. Beach Girl is working on the difference between giving hints and totally giving away where all of her clothespins are hidden the second I start looking. We’re getting there!

We’ve been having such a blast with this simple game and, like most of the games my kids actually enjoy most, it’s so simple but delightful. Like food storage containers, clothespins offer a bunch of ways to play. Here are some ideas:

Hang artwork with clothespins (Sort of like I did with my advent calendar.) It’s a great way to easily rotate art or photographs. Right now, we have foam snowflakes that we painted hanging from them. You could even have your children decorate the clothespins too.

Do you have any ideas for playing with clothespins or games that your children have invented?

Meet Stay at Beach Mom:

A few years ago, my husband (Beach Dad) and I had a crazy idea to move away from all we’d ever known in search of adventure. We left the rat race behind and moved to Charleston, SC. Thus began my awesome career as a Stay at Home Beach Mom.